Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Naquell Walker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Naquell, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

At JNW Logistics, our mission is personal — it comes from our own journey. My husband Jarrell and I both grew up in the streets of New York, and to be honest, we didn’t have much. No mentors, no financial help, no clear direction — just a lot of drive and a deep desire for more. We know what it’s like to feel stuck, to want better but not know how to get there. That’s why we made the bold decision to leave everything behind and move to North Carolina. It wasn’t just about a change of scenery, it was about shifting our mindset, breaking generational cycles, and building something meaningful from the ground up. For us, this mission goes way beyond business. We’re here to be the support system we never had. To open doors for people who feel overlooked or unsure. To show that success is possible, no matter where you come from or what you’ve been through.
Helping others isn’t just a part of what we do — it’s the whole reason we do

Naquell, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hello, we’re Jarrell and Naquell Walker, the husband-and-wife team behind JNW Logistics, a family-owned business based in North Carolina.
We got into this industry because we wanted more! Not just for ourselves, but for our family and our community. Both of us grew up in New York, where opportunities were hard to come by. We didn’t grow up around business owners or people who talked about financial freedom. But even with all the obstacles, we always knew we were meant to do something bigger.
Jarrell made the decision to leave the streets alone and go get his CDL-A. That was a huge turning point for us it opened the door to trucking and laid the foundation for what would eventually become JNW Logistics. Around the same time, I was working a full-time job and ended up getting laid off. That moment pushed me to take a leap of faith and go all in on building our business. We’ve been running ever since.
We’ve been married for over 10 years, we’re raising three beautiful kids (ages 18, 15, and 10), and even moved my mother-in-law down from New York to help support the household while we grew this company. This has been a true family effort from day one.

Today, JNW Logistics does a little bit of everything:
Local freight delivery (including appliance delivery and small business deliveries)
Dump truck hauling (stone, gravel, sand, etc.)
Business startup services (LLC, EIN, SAM.gov setup)
Government contracting support (WOSB, HUB, DBE, VOSB)
Freight dispatch services & training

What makes us different is that we’ve been through it. We don’t just offer services we live this life. We know what it’s like to start from nothing, figure it out on your own, and build something real. That’s why we teach our clients how to understand their numbers, how to stay compliant, and how to position themselves to win state and government contracts. We operate from an owner-operator mindset, making sure everything we do is profitable, sustainable, and built for the long haul.
We’re most proud of the fact that we built this from the ground up. No handouts, no blueprint. Just faith, hard work, and a vision. We’ve made mistakes, learned a lot along the way, and now we’re using our journey to help others do the same.
At the end of the day, this is about more than trucks or paperwork. It’s about creating opportunities and building generational wealth. We’re not just running a business, we are building a movement, and we want to bring as many people along with us as possible.
So, if you’ve ever felt like success wasn’t for you or like you didn’t know where to start, know this: we’ve been there and we’re here to help you get to the other side.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

For both Jarrell and me, one of the biggest lessons we had to unlearn was the belief that success had to follow a certain script — work a steady 9-to-5, play it safe, never take risks, and just hope everything works out. That was what we were taught growing up. Stability meant loyalty to a job, even if it came at the cost of your peace, your health, or your time with family.

One of the biggest shifts we made in our business came after we had already put everything on the line.

When we first got started, we jumped into the trucking world with box trucks, mostly because it was the quickest and most affordable way in. We were eager to build something for our family and get the business moving. But it didn’t take long to realize that depending on load boards alone wasn’t going to cut it. It was unpredictable, up and down, and honestly, we felt like we were just surviving, not building anything solid.

At the same time, Jarrell was on the road constantly. Weeks at a time. Sleeping in the truck, missing birthdays, holidays, and important moments with the kids. He’s been through it all—freezing cold nights, crazy hot days, and even got caught in a tornado in Texas with our son. It was exhausting for him and hard on our whole family.

That’s when we knew something had to change, not just for the business, but for us.

I started doing research and came across dump trucking and learned how there’s real opportunity in local and state contracts. It wasn’t just better rates. It was consistency, stability, and the chance for Jarrell to be home more. I realized you could start as a subcontractor, follow the construction projects, and eventually land your own contracts. That completely changed our mindset.

We made the pivot into dump trucking and started doing the work to get certified and positioned to work with city and state agencies. It wasn’t easy. The paperwork alone was a process. But it was worth it. That move allowed us to be more present with our kids, create jobs, and start building a business with real long-term potential.

That pivot wasn’t just about strategy. It was about survival, growth, and protecting our family. And honestly, it’s the reason JNW Logistics is still here and continuing to grow today.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

For me, I followed that belief for years. I worked full time, sometimes two full time jobs at once, just to keep us going. I truly believed that if I stayed committed, worked hard, and gave my all to the company, it would eventually lead to something stable and secure. That kind of thinking gave me structure until life forced me to see things differently.

When COVID hit, my world changed forever. In the span of one year, I lost five close family members: my uncle, my aunt, my grandmother, and both of my sisters. The grief was heavy. And through it all, the company I had dedicated myself to never once asked how I was doing or offered support. That silence was painful. It made me realize that I had been giving so much of myself to something that didn’t value me. In that moment, something shifted. I knew I couldn’t keep building someone else’s dream while losing pieces of myself in the process. So I chose to pour that same energy into something of my own into our business, our future, and our healing.

Jarrell’s journey looked different, but the growth was just as deep. He’s the oldest of three boys, and growing up in New York, he carried a lot on his shoulders. He made choices in his past, ones he’s open about, because at the time, survival was the only goal. But watching his younger brothers get caught up in the judicial system changed everything for him. It was a wake-up call. He knew that if he didn’t shift his mindset and environment, he could lose everything, including the chance to be here for his kids, his wife, and himself.

Leaving New York, the only home he had ever known, wasn’t easy. But it was necessary. He moved to North Carolina, got his CDL and started a new chapter, one built on purpose, responsibility, and a vision for the future. It was a choice rooted in love and growth, not fear.

Together, we’ve learned that healing doesn’t always come in silence. Sometimes it shows up in the form of hard decisions, new beginnings, and the courage to believe that we’re meant for more. And that’s exactly what we’re building now. Not just a business, but a life that honors where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jnw_logisticsllc/